The River of Doubt - The Library of the Uncommons

Paperback, 432 pages

English language

Published Oct. 10, 2006 by Broadway.

ISBN:: 978-0-7679-1373-7

The true story of Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing 1914 exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth, a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron. After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped tributary of the Amazon. He and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. Yet he accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it.--From …

The true story of Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing 1914 exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth, a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron. After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped tributary of the Amazon. He and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. Yet he accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it.--From publisher description.

7 editions

loppear reviewed The River of Doubt by Candice Millard

overconfident white guys versus the rainforest

3 stars

Impressively researched account of a former president's hubristic ill-conceived trek into the Amazon, I give it a pass for being a "great man" story to the extent it accurately conveys Roosevelt's self-image of success and worth, shaking my head throughout the story.

Remy Rose reviewed The River of Doubt by Candice Millard

Review of 'The river of doubt' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

This story is mind-boggling. It has every over-the-top action trope you might expect were this a work of fiction. The only thing missing is a scene where the team calmly doesn't look at an explosion, and frankly, it wouldn't have been out of place. I'm convinced the events of this book couldn't have happened to anyone but Roosevelt. It's as if the man distorted the reality around into a Seagal film.

Interspersed throughout all the insane hardships, there are fascinating detours into the ecology, history, and anthropology of the Amazon jungle. All of these feel more like teasers toward a broader picture than extraneous details. In fact, I was intrigued enough to dig around for more; what I discovered is that several of expedition's member's accounts of the trip are in the public domain, and available online. Score!

Subjects

United States - 20th Century
Discovery And Exploration (General)
U.S. President
Travel
History - General History
History: American
Expeditions & Discoveries
Latin America - South America
Presidents & Heads of State
History / General
Essays & Travelogues
Biography & Autobiography